Art of extinguishing fires



F. A. EPPS.

ART OF EXTINGUISHING FIRES.

AFPLHIATION men MAY 3, ms.

1,355,951 Patented Oct. 19, 1920.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FRANK A. EPPS, 0]! NEW YORK, N. Y;, ASSIGNOB, IBY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, '10

FOAMITE FIBEIOAM COMPANY, DELAWARE.

or new YORK, n. 2., a oonronarron or am or nxrnvomsnrno Frans.

Original application filed January 9, 1917, Serial No. 141,374. Divided and this Spa clflcatlon of Letters l'atent.

Patented Oct. 19, 1920s application filed May 8,

1918. Serial No. 282,291.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I FRANK A. Errs, ecitizen of the United gtates, residing atvNew York, in the county of New York and'state of New York, have invented new and useful Improvements in the Art of Extinguishing Fires, of which the following is at'spccification.

This invention relates to improvements in the art of extinguishing fire, and pertains more particular y to processes operating under foam-extinguishing rinciples, being a division of my application filed Jan. 9,

a 1917, S01. No. 141,374, Patent No. 1,296,937,

dated March 11, 1919.

Operations under ioam-extinguishmg principles involve the formation of what may be termed an aqueous blanket, this blanket, when complete, overlying the burning surface and serving to extin h the fire. The blanket is the result of ringing into commixed relation two component solutions normallly retained se crate, these solutions, when rought togehenprovidin chemical reactions for the production 0 the foam form of the content. 'The efiiciency of the blanket is,of course, more or lessdependent upon the character of the foam iormation, as well as its lasting qualities, these factors being imtgortant in determining the efiiciency of e fire-extin medium. And one of the determining factors in this connection is the liinitin charaoteristic of length of life of the bubble formation.

The object of the resentinvention is to rovide for the pro notion of an aqueous lanket of maximum lifeby brin ing the foam formation to maximum deve opulent with rapidity and placing the formation in the aqueous blanket form with rapidity after its formation, thus he the me'or portion ofthe life of the bubble formation active in the blanket form. This result may.

be obtained in various ways, the preferred method, however, being to bring the' two solution streams into eommixing relation at the point of application by delivering the streams in directions to o pose each other and foicibly break down 1; e stream forma- Lions and substantially overcome the stream' pressurw, thus bringing the solution con tents into intimate commixture and enabling the chemical reactions of the components to and adapted be rapidly developed into the foam conditlon, the foam formation then being delivered on to the surface to be acted upon. The streams are dclivered'in '0 posits or oppos g directions, but it is to e understood that dress terms are not limited to a SFHOt'OOIIStIUQtlOII, since the relative positions of the outlet ends of the solution-conveymg pipes may be otherwise than in direct opposition, these terms being satisfied by an arrangement in which the streams ass into contact after being discharged and orcibly break down the stream formation suificieutly to fEBIOViClG for the development of the foam a 1 being discharged.

To these and other ends, therefore, the nature of which will be readil understood as the invention is hereinafter 'sclosed, said invention consists in the im roved methods hereinafter-11115 described, lustratcd in the accompanying rawings, and more particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

In the accompanying crawings, in which similar reference characters indicate similar parts in each of the views F; e l is a view inelevation showin a sump 6 form of structure applicable to-t e outlet ends of solution discharge conduits to carry the invention into practice.

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view taken on line 22 of 1.

Fig. 3 is a top plan viewof the structure of Flg. 1. V

Fig. 4 is a view partly in section and partly in elevation showing one way in which the structure of Fig. 1 may be emplgyed in connection with. an oil tank.

*ig. 5 is a sectional view taken on line 5-5 of Fig. 4.

In the drawings I have shown simply the delivery portion of an apparatus, the invention being adagted to be used with any ty e of storage an conduit structures for the separate solutions, it being understood, of course, that the actual delivery of the individual solutions from the conduits when the latter are opened for service, will be under pressure so as to provide for solution discharge under ressure. conditions;

The form 0 apparatus emploived for illustrating the invention provides 'or discharge of the solution streams in direct 0 elng do livered under pressure, thus meetin headon at a oint intermediate the out ets, the stream ormations thus being forcibly broken down and the delivery pressure substantially overcome.

In the form shown, 10 and 10" indicate two conduits adapted to deliver the several solutions to heads 11 and 11 respectively, these heads being rcmovably secured to the conduits and shown as extending in axial alincment, with the outer ends of the heads opposite and spaced from each other, each head being, normally closed by a suitable cap 12, the arrangement placing the heads as the terminal ends of the respective conduits.

Caps 12 are normally held seated by a suitable retaining means, this being shown as in the form of a toggle structure l3 formed of two members which are normally held in cap-retaining position by a fusible element or structure 1n ica-ted as a )late or plates 14;. This toggle structure is il ustrative and is of a ty in which a spring 15 is housed between t e members for the purpose of aiding to break the toggle when the fusible element is made inactive in the presence of lire conditions, thus not only permitting the solution pressure on the caps to be made effective in breaking the toggle, but also utilising the power of the spring to provide this result so that the caps are rapidly freed from the retaining effect of the toggle and thus rapidly release the streams from the respective outlets. As it is desirable that the arrangement employed be such as to enable a new retaining device to be placed in position when desired, I have shown heads 11 as carried by U-shapcd mating members 16 which are 'oined together by bolts 17, thus retaining e parts in proper alinement for efiective o oration, and yet permitting ready removal 0? parts to restore the apparatus to working condition, the U-shaped members confronti each other to provide an open space therein within which the retaining device extends.

The method may be employed in any desired relation, it being especially applicable for use in connection with the protection of tanks for inflammable materials. this use be ing indicated in Figs. 4 and 5. The particular manner of mounting the apparatus for practising the method may vary, a simple and eflicient manner of mounting being shown in the drawings wherein conduits 10 and 10 are led into the wall of the tankthe latter being indicated at Tnear the top, thus locating the outlet ends of the conduits permanent y within the tank and above the normal level of the contents. the retaining device being thus located in favorable position for action on the fusible element 14 under fire conditions. had I also prefer to employ a shield 18, which may he of semi-circular configuration as in Fig. 5,

the shield tending to isolate the space within which the ends of the conduits extend and restrict any tendency of the contacting stream splatter-in the contents except as may be permitted lay the shield. The shield preferably omits an bottom for the space, so that the space wit 'n the shield is ermanently open to the tank from below, t iereb enablin rapid development of the conditions w iich bring about the release of the retaining device, and at the some time permitting the free movement of the foam formation downwardly on to the top surface of the tank contents, there bein practically no liability of so choking up t 8 space as might tend to affect the production of the foam when caps 12 are released. This shield, however, is not absolutely essential.

As will be readily understood, the retaining device will retain caps 12 in position to close the outlet ends of the respective conduits, whether the contents of the conduits be under ressure or not while the ap aratus is set rent y for operation whenever re conditions require. When fire conditions are present and the fusible element 14 becomes so affected as to release the tog le members, the latter will be automaticall lihrown aside by the action of spring 15 ant the discharg ing pressure of the conduit contents, this latter bein made active if the contents are not norma y under pressure, the caps also being thrown aside by the pressure. This release of the ca s immediately renders both outlets free to ischarge the contents of the respective conduits, so that each solution is discharged from its conduit in stream form and directly toward the stream discharging from the opposite outlet, these streams, (lischargin under pressure, meeting headon wit lill the s more between the two outlets, with the resu t that each stream will be forcibly broken down by the action of the other stream, both streams thus being broken down and concurrently overcoming the discharging pressuro. Since the components of the two streams are such as to provide for chemical reaction when brought together, the forcible break down or more or less disinte 'ation of the stream form produces a con ition es cially favorable to rapid commixing of t e components and setting the chemical reactions with rapidity, thereby producing the foam formation which is free to move down through the space and the open lower end of the shield directly on to the surface upon which the blanket is to be formed.

It will therefore be seen that by this particnlar method, I am able to locate the point of foam production directly at the point of application, so that while the method permits of rapid development of the foam condition, this development takes place so close to the surface to be acted upon that no meup i terial loss in the active life of the bubble formation is had. the result being that substantially the entire active life of the bubble formation is made a 'ailahle. In addition, the space within which the foam formation is produced is sufficiently large so as to take care of the normal expansion produced when the streams are changed into the foam formation, so that there is no material pres sure present on the bubble formation duriug travel through and out of this space, practically maintaining the integrity of the bubble formation through the absence of any physical deteriorating means.

As will be understood, the structures shown in the drawings are more or less illustrative of ways in which the invention may he carried out, it being understood that rarious ways of providing this result can be employed.

\Vhile I have herein shown and. de-

scribed a way in which the invention may he carried into practice, it will be readily understood that changes and modifications therein may be found desirable or necessary in meeting the exigencies of use, and I desire to he understood as rserviug the right to make any and all such chan 'es or modifications as may he found desirzfifl or essential, in so fa' as the same may fall within the spirit and scope of the invention as expressed in the accompanying claims when broadly construed.

hat I claim is:

1. In fire-extinguishing systems of the foanrextinguishing type and wherein the component solutions are normally maintained separate and are brought into commixing relation at the point of application and under fire conditions, the method of producing the solution commixture which consists in locating, the solution discharge ports sub stantially at the point of application, the ports being adapted to discharge the solutions in stream form, normally restraining the solutions against discharge, and concurrently releasing the solution streams from confinement and under pressure in the presence of tire cohditions, the direction of flow of:theldischarging streams causing the streams to oppose each other to forcibly break down the stream formations and substantially overcome the stream pressures. whereby reaction of the component elements of the commixed and brokenalown streams is rapidly developed, the zone of forcible contact between said streams being located in an open space free from said solutions.

2. In fireextinguishing systems of the itlEtIll-tXliXlg'lllSlllHg type. the method of admixing the solutions at a delivery terminal, which consists in maintaining the individuality of the solution strean'is during travel to such terminal, and releasing such streams in stream form and under pressure substantially at the point of application and under lire conditions, with the How path of one released stream intersecting the similar path of the other stream to' cause the streams to forcibly contact and commix at such point of intersection. whereby the stream form of the solutions will be destroyed in the formation of an aqueous blanket, the zone of forcible contact between said streams being located in an open space free from said solutions. 3. The process of producing a tire-extinguishing medium of the aqueous blanket" type, which consists in normally maintaining component solutions of the blanket separate, producing flow of the separate solutions in stream form when the blanket is to be produced, and producing the blanket by delivering the several stryams in steam form at the point of application in intersecting flow paths and into forcible contact to cause concurrent disintegration of the stream form and coimnixture of the stream 001% tents, the zone of forcible contact between said streams being located in an open space free from said solutions.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in presence of two subscribing witnesses.

Jesse B. SMITH, FRANK, H. S'rmmolm. 

